Puri Puri Vol. #03

What They SayWhen last we left poor little Kamioda-kun, a demon had shattered his conviction that he had the competence to be a priest when it exposed to him the suppressed erotic yearnings buried in his heart. But Ayano-chan proves the perfect pill to cure him of his ills, and the summer break offers hope and promise for the boy who, confidence restored, intends to use the time working on his priesthood exams. Ha! That is, until he discovers that everyone has left him for the pleasure grounds of Okinawa, including the next club on his exam list: the council's knights. But how will he ever be able to keep his mind focused on his exams with all those delicious bikini-clad beauties wondering around?

The ReviewNo harem comedy would be complete without a summer trip to the beach, so here we go. This volume somewhat ups the harem ante by bringing together not only Masato and Ayano at the beach, but also Sherrice with the Knights Templar girls and the exorcist-in-training Ayumi. All three love interests, sun and water, and about eight bathing suit clad beauties. Daddy like!

This volume is more of the same; Masato trying to accomplish his tasks to become a priest while trying his hardest to ignore the cute girls, panty shots, and accidental groping that comes with attending an all girls school. How can one guy be so lucky? Maybe he was born under a lucky star?

Fortunately, this series humor is still pulling strong and there is some character development as Masato tags along with Ayano on a shopping trip. She needs to buy something for a guy and wants Masato's opinion. Of course, Masato thinks the guy must be him, but it turns out the gift is for Ayano's father. He is away from home a lot and Ayano wants to buy him something nice before he returns home. Unfortunately for Ayano, her dad comes home and gets right back on another plane for another business trip. This common occurrence should breed resentment. The situation obviously bothers Ayano, but she finds a way to look on the bright side and Masato ends up with a new date book and a somewhat unwarranted ego boost.

There aren't many new harem jokes out there, and Puri Puri certainly recycles plenty of old gags. However, this story is genuinely funny and the idea of a priest-in-training surrounded by girls everyday makes it easy for me to ignore the random 'idol contest' and 'trip to the beach' gag. There is one story in this volume that is a little different, the 'Knights Templar, to War!' chapter. Masato and Ayano get duped into a warehouse where some girls lock them in. Afterwards, Sherrice and the Knights are tricked into believing Masato needs to be rescued. True to this genre, some normal accidental groping takes place in the warehouse, but it's the Knight's actions in the Warehouse District that surprised me. For harem stories, I usually just think of a couple girls beating on the protagonist, but this chapter opens the spectrum a little. The Knights stumble upon some yakuza and demand Masato's release. The yakuza don't take kindly to high school girls making demands, but in the end, maybe they should have tried talking things through? Can Sherrice and the other Knights really take down a gang of hardened thugs? How far are things going between Ayano and Masato while the others are having a street brawl outside?

All joking aside, Masato and Ayano find their relationship quickly slipping away from the path of piety. Both seem to want more than normal friendship and if it weren't for random interruptions, Masato may have already lost his goal of priesthood. This part of the story is the most interesting. Ayano likes Masato because she respects his conviction to become a priest. However, if she acts on her desires, Masato's dream of priesthood will be shattered and the very thing Ayano respects about him will disappear forever. On the other hand, Masato is just as horny as every other sexually repressed teenage boy. Throw in two other cute classmates with the same desires as Ayano, and we have a decent harem comedy. At this point in the story, I really have to recommend this story to fans of harem stories.